Environmental Policing Nets Gains for Delaware

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concluded enforcement cases in fiscal year 2007 that will produce $527,375 in pollution controls and environmental projects protecting Delaware air, water, and land. The cases include $126,750 in penalties that polluters will have to pay for violating federal environmental laws.

“Delaware residents will benefit from cuts in pollution and from improvements in the way pollution is managed by these companies and industrial facilities that are now complying with the law,” said Donald S. Welsh, EPA’s mid-Atlantic regional administrator. “The money these companies will have to spend in Delaware as a result of our environmental policing will also produce health benefits for the public.”

EPA’s calculations of environmental benefits from its cases in Delaware include the reduction of more than 368,318 pounds of chemical releases, and the cleanup of properties with contaminated soil amounting to enough soil to fill 23 football fields with three feet of dirt.

EPA’s mid-Atlantic enforcement program inspected and took action for violations associated with eight different environmental statutes. The cases ranged from environmental reporting violations to mismanagement of hazardous waste to illegal discharges of pollutants.